First-principles study of a hybrid carbon material: Imperfect fullerenes covalently bonded to defective single-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

The electronic properties of a novel hybrid carbon material, the NanoBud, is investigated by using a first-principles method. Our results suggest that NanoBuds of zigzag carbon nanotubes are semiconductors, no matter whether the zigzag nanotubes are metallic or semiconducting. Local states appear in the band gap of the NanoBuds near the Fermi level. NanoBuds of armchair carbon nanotubes remain metallic. These properties may have great potential applications in future nanodevice design.